Lca Coming Up Short In Bid To Buy Steel Tract

March 24, 1986|The Morning Call

The Lehigh County Authority has not been able to find too many partners to go along with its plans to buy ground for a future wastewater treatment plant.

The LCA wants to purchase about 40 acres along the Lehigh River below Allentown from the Bethlehem Steel Corp. The LCA has informed Bethlehem Steel of its interest in acquiring theland, but it has not begun serious negotiation nor does it have an option on the land, LCA General Manger Aurel Arndt said last week. The LCA has appraised the land but will not say how much it was appraised for.

The LCA will not begin serious talks to buy the land until it has enough municipal partners to pay for the acquisition, Arndt said. Arndt said the LCA cannot contribute any of its own money.

For months the LCA has been trying to convince local governments of the need to acquire the land because a new sewage plant may have to be built to serve the growing demands of fast-developing Lehigh County. The land, on the south bank of the Lehigh River where the river makes a large curl in Salisbury Township, is considered by the LCA to be the best site still available in the county for a new sewage plant. But the land is now for sale and it could be sold to someone else, said the LCA.

Of 11 municipalities or sewer authorities contacted so far, only Lower Macungie Township has said it would be interested in helping to buy the land, Arndt said.

Upper Macungie has said it would like to support the acquisition, but has declined to participate because it said it could not afford it, Arndt said. Upper Milford Township, which is advised on sewer matters by the LCA, has agreed to support the acquisition, Arndt said, and South Whitehall Township is still considering whether to take part in the purchase.

The Borough of Macungie and the Coplay-Whitehall Sewer Authority have said they are not interested, and Salisbury is opposed to the land acquisition because it doesn't want a sewage plant in the township, said Township Manager Clifford Steff.

The Borough of Alburtis and the rural townships of Weisenberg and Lowhill have not responded to the LCA inquiries, Arndt said. Arndt said he is "not sure yet" what Allentown's feeling is on the proposal to buy the land.

Arndt said in order to acquire the site, the participating governments would have to sign an agreement to share the costs of buying the land.

There are several different tracts that would be suitable for a sewage treatment plant on the roughly 150 acres of Bethlehem Steel property, which is called Riverside.

The site has been contemplated as a location for a new sewage plant for many years.